Jim is a Reader in Building Simulation & Urban Environments at the Leeds Sustainability Institute at Leeds Beckett University. Holistically, Jim’s work centres around the environmental performance of buildings. This covers a wide range of applied research including sustainable refurbishment, building occupancy and operations, energy flexibility, thermal comfort and overheating, urban heat islands, and, more recently, internal and external air quality.
Jim leads and collaborates on projects funded by the International Energy Agency, the UK Government and Innovate UK. He also works locally with Leeds City Council and some of the major stakeholders in the city. Jim currently manages a network of approximately 70 sensors across the Leeds city region that aim to help quantify the urban heat island and the impact that green space can have on the urban environment, all installed in collaboration with LCC. He also has groups of high resolution air quality sensors measuring internal and external quality across the two Leeds Beckett campuses in the city, along with plans with LCC for long-term monitoring of air quality in some key city assets.